FOOD The seeds of catastrophe
NEW YORK (Map, News) - After slashing inventory and cutting expenses, the retail industry is still bracing for the largest overall quarterly profit decline in at least nine years when merchants report their first-quarter earnings this week. Faced with one of the worst consumer spending climates in almost two decades, stores are going to have to find clever ways to attract increasingly thrifty shoppers contending with higher gas and food bills and a slumping housing market. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT, News) launched a new online feature Friday that offers tips from financial expert Ellie Kay on...
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photo: WN / Renzelle Mae Abasolo
